Death Wish
by starry night blue
Summary: [ONESHOT!] Akito is on his death bed, and he has one last wish. He wants Yuki to visit him every day till he dies. Will Yuki grant him his wish?


**D/C: I don't own Fruits Basket…or any other anime, to be exact.**

**Okay, folks! This is my first FB fic ever! Of course, when you know that it's my first fic, you'll be slightly discouraged, but don't worry; I've worked hard on this one and I believe it's really good. **

**Oh, well, enjoy!**

**DEATH WISH**

'I'm sorry, Akito, it's no use.'

Akito didn't react when Hatori spoke and while he packed up his examination kit; he just sat, propped up against his pillows, with his hands in his lap, and his dark blue eyes just gazing aimlessly into space. He looked incredibly pale, and there were black circles under his eyes, and he looked thinner than ever, if that was possible.

'The cancer has spread wide throughout your body, there's nothing we can do to remove it,' Hatori continued. 'I can give you some painkillers, but nothing else, I'm afraid.'

Akito closed his eyes, and a smirk touched his thin lips. 'I always knew a day like this would come,' he said softly. 'A day when there will be no medication left to help me…'

Hatori didn't say anything. He avoided looking into the head of the family's face as he quietly packed away his equipment.

'When will I die?' Akito asked suddenly.

Hatori was rather taken by surprise. 'I really don't know,' he murmured.

'When will I die?' Akito repeated, sharply this time.

'You will die on your birthday; that's twelve days from now…just as the curse says,' Hatori replied. He finished packing and closed his bag. 'I suggest you stay here at the hospital, the nurses will look after you and I trust that you'll be more comfortable here.'

'No,' Akito said. 'You are to take me back to my house…if I am to die; I want to die on my bed and in my house, not in a hospital.'

'Whatever you say,' Hatori agreed. 'But I still think it would be…'

'Didn't you hear me, Hatori?' Akito snapped. 'I said I wanted to go to my house! Now!'

'Yes…of course,' Hatori said, quietly. 'And what after that?'

'I want a member of the family to visit me each day,' Akito said in a flat tone. 'And I want Yuki to visit me every day till I die…understand?'

'Yes, Akito, I understand,' Hatori replied. _The question was; will Yuki understand?_

-

'No! I absolutely shall not!'

Hatori let out an exasperated sigh as Yuki slammed his hand down on the table, a furious expression playing across his delicate features. 'Yuki, please, you must understand,' he said in a reasonable tone. 'This is the last thing Akito will be asking for you…he's going to die, why don't you just go along with him until then?'

'Things are not the way they used to be!' Yuki snapped. 'He can't order me around like he used to do before! And did he forget all the misery he used to put me through? He expects me to be by his side after all that? Ha! That's ridiculous!'

Hatori looked around at Tohru, pleadingly. She nodded and turned to Yuki. 'Sohma-kun, Akito-san is on his death bed, the most polite and respectful thing to do to such people is to carry out their last wishes; it's tradition,' she told him.

'You don't know anything!' Yuki said sharply. 'I will never do for favors for Akito, even if he's hanging between life and death, and that's final! I don't want to hear anything more on the subject! Tell Akito I won't be coming to see him at all; I suppose his heart will _shatter_.'

He smirked as he said the last word, got up, and left the room, sliding the paper door shut behind him.

Hatori massaged his temples. 'What are we to do?' he said, sounding agitated. 'Akito won't be pleased when he hears this, and he's become quite aggressive lately.'

'I'll try to talk to him again,' Tohru assured him. She looked around at the guy sitting in the corner, a comic held before him, although she knew he wasn't actually reading it. 'What about you, Kyo-kun?'

Kyo put down his comic book, and scratched the back of his mob of arrange hair. 'Me? Oh, I'll visit the sick guy,' he drawled. 'The last thing I want is for him to come back from the grave and haunt me because I didn't pay him a visit.'

Tohru laughed. 'I'll come with you, then,' she said brightly.

Hatori looked up. 'You're going too?' he asked, sounding a bit worried.

'Of course I am,' Tohru said firmly. 'I _want _to see Akito-san, I want to say good-bye to him and how much I'll miss him when he leaves…I'll even try to cheer him up a bit.'

'I don't know about that, Tohru,' Hatori murmured. 'He didn't actually say that he wanted to meet you.'

'But _I _want to meet him,' Tohru insisted. 'I want to make sue that Akito-san's last days are his best.' She stopped and smiled. 'Mom always told me how we should always make sure that when somebody is about to die, we try to get their mind off the idea of death, that we must try and get them to think about life and its joys, and remind them of all the good times they've had…we must make sure that when they leave this world, they are happy, and not sad.'

Kyo just gazed at Tohru in an odd sort of way, and Hatori smiled at her. 'You're right, Tohru,' he agreed. Then his smile disappeared. 'But believe it or not, the only way Akito will leave this world happy is to have Yuki visit him everyday…and I don't think that will be happening any time soon, do you?'

-

Yuki slumped down on the floor next to his bed, and brought his knees up to his chest. He sighed heavily.

Akito was going to die; that's what Hatori told them. He wondered whether he should feel happy or upset that he was finally going to leave them, after all, the only thing Akito ever gave him and the entire family was pain and misery.

His fists clenched as his mind went over his days of childhood…over that particular day when Akito locked him in that dark room and started hitting him…he felt an angry shudder run through his whole body.

He had always been Akito's favorite toy. Akito used to hit him, threaten him, abuse him…and he was only a kid back then. None of the family members were hurt by Akito as much as he was; he was the favorite; he was the best of all the toys.

When he had grown up, he felt like he had broken free of Akito for real. He didn't go near him if he could help it, and the idea of having to spend every single day with Akito for God knows how long, was just too absurd. Akito was asking for too much, and even though he knew how disrespectful it all seemed, he didn't care. He wasn't going to visit the head of the Sohma clan on his death bed, no matter what.

-

'Akito-san?'

Akito looked away from the window and turned, rather hopefully, towards the door. He scowled in anger when he saw that it was Kyo and Tohru who were standing at the door, and not Yuki.

'What do you want?' he snapped.

'We came to visit you, Akito-san,' Tohru said softly. 'How are you feeling now?'

'I'd feel a lot better if you would get out of my face!' he spat at her.

Tohru's eyes widened, and Kyo's jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists, but she held him back, hissing into his ear about how aggressive Akito was as Hatori told them.

'We just wanted to make you feel better,' Tohru pressed on. 'Didn't you say you wanted visitors? And here we are; visitors, just like you wanted.'

'I wanted to be visited by the Sohmas,' he said in a steely voice. 'You're _both_ not Sohmas.'

'What do you mean I'm not a Sohma?' Kyo exploded.

'You may carry our last name, but I still don't consider you a member of the family,' Akito said calmly. He jerked his thumb at Tohru. 'And as far as I'm concerned, she's a Honda.'

'She's more of a family than you are, you bastard!' Kyo snapped. 'I thought you'd appreciate her visiting you when you have caused her nothing but misery, but apparently, you aren't!'

'Kyo!' Tohru whispered urgently, gripping his arm.

'No, go on, I'm listening,' Akito said in a deadly whisper. 'What did you call me?'

'I think we should be going now,' Tohru said hastily. 'We hope you get better, Akito-san!'

'Yeah, you're right,' Kyo rasped. 'I knew this was a bad idea from the start…Yuki's damn smart for not agreeing to come and visit you!'

Tohru saw something flicker in Akito's dark eyes, and he scowled. 'I want you out of here…now,' he said sharply.

'Gladly!' Kyo agreed. 'Come on, Tohru, let's go.' He grabbed her hand and started to pull her away from the door, but she wouldn't budge. 'Tohru! What's wrong with you?'

Tohru pulled her hand out of his grasp and went into the room. Akito narrowed his eyes at her as she approached his bed. 'And what do you want?' he demanded.

'I just wanted to say that…' she said softly. '…I know how important it is for Yuki to visit you, and I'll try to convince him to come, I promise.'

Akito glared at her. 'Do I look like I care if that bastard came to saw me?' he snapped. 'Frankly, I don't give a damn! And, now, more than ever, I want you out of my room and out of my sight!'

Tohru nodded silently, and walked towards the door, where Kyo was standing, staring at her. 'Let's go,' she whispered, and led the way out of the house.

If she had looked up at Akito's bedroom window once she was out, she would have seen him standing there. She would've seen his lips move, but she probably wouldn't have been able to hear the word, 'Thanks'.

-

'Sohma-kun, please! You have to go and see Akito!'

Eleven days had passed, and with each passing day, Tohru was trying harder than ever to convince Yuki to visit Akito, but with no use; Yuki seemed to be absolutely determined not to see Akito before the later died.

'Tohru, I told you before that there is simple nothing which will make me want to see Akito,' Yuki said wearily. 'I don't want to see him…I've made up my mind.'

'But everybody's been to see him!' Tohru persisted. 'Shigure-san, Kisa-chan, Kagura…heck! Even Ayame-san went to see him!'

'Tohru, please, I want you to drop this, I'm going to be sick if I hear anything more about Akito, understand?' he said sharply.

Tears welled in Tohru's eyes. 'He's going to die tomorrow, what is wrong with you?' she demanded. 'All he wants is to see you…he _needs _to see you, Sohma-kun.'

Yuki snorted. 'More like he needs to play with me, not see me,' he muttered.

'No!' Tohru cried. 'He needs to see you; I feel there's something he wants to say to you! Trust me, Sohma-kun, if you don't go and see Akito-san now before he dies, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.'

With that, she got up and left the room, sliding the paper door to Yuki's door shut behind her, leaving Yuki to his own thoughts.

Should he go see Akito? Will he regret it if he doesn't? What could Akito possibly want to say to him?

-

Akito's birthday came.

Instead of cakes, bright decorations, laughter and all the other happy things associated with birthdays, a feeling of utmost dread and gloom filled Akito's house.

Akito lay in bed, surrounded by all the members of the Sohma family. Tohru was also there, and this time, Akito didn't bark at her to leave his house. Everybody was dressed in black, and nobody was exchanging a word with the other. They all stared down at their feet, unable to meet Akito's gaze.

Akito was looking paler and sicker than before, and a broken expression had clouded his features. Tohru felt she could explain that; Akito was upset because Yuki hadn't come in to visit him. Although he hadn't said it aloud, but it was clearly obvious. She felt like she had failed Akito; she had promised she'll make Yuki come and visit, but she couldn't. She felt really ashamed of herself.

The paper door to Akito's room slid open, and everybody in the room, including Akito, turned around to see who the new-comer was. A low gasp ran between the Sohmas; it was Yuki.

Akito stared at Yuki, unable to believe his eyes. Yuki met his gaze and didn't flinch. He just continued to gaze coolly at Akito from his position by the door frame.

'Leave the room…all of you,' Akito said hoarsely.

Nobody disagreed. They all stood up, and one by one, they left the room. Tohru stopped as she passed Yuki, and she beamed at him.

'Thank you, Sohma-kun,' she said softly, and then she turned around and left.

It was only Yuki and Akito now.

'Come in and close the door,' Akito said quietly.

Yuki stepped into the room and closed the door, as instructed. 'What do you want?' he asked coldly.

'I want you to sit next to me and hold my hand,' Akito whispered.

Yuki blinked. That was totally unexpected. Nevertheless, he crossed the room to Akito, pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down. Akito held out his hand and Yuki held it. He shuddered when he felt how coarse and cold it was.

Akito remained silent for a long while, and Yuki continued to hold his hand, feeling more restless by the moment. He had only come here for Tohru. She, badly, wanted him to visit Akito, and here he was.

'Why didn't you come as I instructed?' Akito asked suddenly.

'And why should I come?' Yuki replied. 'You think I'm about to come and visit you after all the things you've done to me?'

Akito smiled. 'That's exactly why I wanted you to come,' he whispered.

Yuki frowned. 'What do you mean?' he asked.

Akito didn't look at him. 'I wanted to apologize for everything I did,' he said softly.

Yuki stared at him. 'You what?' he demanded.

'I wanted to say…I'm sorry,' Akito murmured.

Yuki scowled and pulled his hand away. 'You think a simple sorry would do?' he snapped. 'You caused me pain and misery, nothing you ever say will make me forgive you.'

Akito closed his eyes and nodded his head. 'I knew you would say that,' he admitted. 'I knew you wouldn't accept my apology.'

'So why bother then?' Yuki asked.

'I didn't feel comfortable about leaving this world without saying sorry to you, Yuki,' he whispered. 'Everything I did to you was because…I felt jealous.'

'Jealous?' Yuki repeated blankly.

'I was jealous of you,' Akito murmured. 'You were loved by everybody, you had friends, you were popular…you had feelings, and I had none of those. I felt bitter; why should you have everything while I have nothing?'

'Akito, you…' Yuki whispered.

Akito grabbed Yuki's hand. 'I'm sorry for everything, Yuki, I truly am,' he said earnestly. 'I am such an asshole, and I know it, I know you hate me…but I'd really have you forgive me before I go.'

Yuki was silent; he didn't know what to say. He had never seen Akito like this, and it scared him a bit to see a person once so strong and powerful, now so weak and vulnerable. He never thought Akito would have any feelings, but now, Akito was proving him totally wrong.

'Yuki…' Akito murmured.

'I…I forgive you, Akito,' Yuki told him.

Akito's tense features relaxed, and he smiled. 'I don't deserve this, but…' he said softly. '…thanks.'

He rested his head back on the pillow. He took a deep shuddering breath and then…he was no more.

His grip around Yuki's hand loosened and his hand fell to his side. Yuki stared, horrified, at the lifeless form of the head of the Sohmas. To his surprise, he didn't feel remotely happy that he had died; he felt something stab at his heart as he gazed down at Akito's face.

He reached out and pulled the bed sheets over Akito's head. 'Good bye, Akito,' he whispered, a single tear trickling down his cheek.

**-**

**A/N: So sad, isn't it? Too dramatic, but, anyway… Okay, so tell me, how did you like this fic? I hope you did like it, coz I'm expecting reviews! So press that little purple button and send me one, okay?**

_**-ZEN.**_


End file.
